Parallel Compression

The process of parallel compression (also called New York -style compression) blends a dry audio signal together with a copy of this signal heavily compressed. It can give a really nice excitement and flavor to sounds. It is a widely used technique and can give some real spice to, for example, drums and vocals.

Let’s see how it is done in Live:

1. Navigate in the Chapter 16 project to the DRUMS track.
2. Insert a new Return Track. (In this project, this will be Return C.)
3. Insert the Compressor device onto this new Return Track.
4. Send the drums via Sends C all the way to the Return Track with the Compressor device on it (Figure 16.14).

Figure 16.14 – The DRUMS track sent all the way to Return Track C

5. Now you can hit the Solo button on Return Track C and set up the Compressor device on this Return Track to compress the signal really-really heavily! Go really heavy-handed and over the top with the...